The Only…Oof!

“The wonderful thing about tiggers
Is tiggers are wonderful things!
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs!
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is
I’m the only one
Tiggers are cuddly fellas
Tiggers are awfully sweet
Ev’ryone el-us is jealous
That’s why I repeat… and repeat

The wonderful thing about tiggers
Is tiggers are marvelous claps!
They’re loaded with vim and vigor
They love to leap in your laps!
They’re jumpy, bumpy, clumpy, thumpy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is
I’m the only one
I-I-I’m , the only… oof!
Ouch!”
(“The wonderful thing about tiggers” from “Winnie The Pooh”)

I couldn’t resist to add this song to this picture shot in the wildlife sanctuary of the jungle of Bandhavgarh in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh where this magnificent wild tiger performed a “show” during more than 45 minutes.

The Art of Seeing

“When a man understands the art of seeing, he can trace the spirit of an age and the features of a king even in the knocker on a door.”
(“The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831)

In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo makes frequent reference to the architecture of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
The enormous popularity of the book in France spurred the nascent historical preservation movement in that country and strongly encouraged Gothic revival architecture.
Ultimately it led to major renovations at Notre-Dame in the 19th century led by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
Much of the cathedral’s present appearance is a result of this renovation.

I don’t show many images of Paris in my photostream however there is a connection with a series of pictures about Gothicism in Varanasi (Benaras) on which I am working actuallyand that I’ll be uploading soon.

The Land of High Passes

 

This picture was shot after crossing the third-highest pass in the world, the Changla pass which is at 5,425 m (17,800 ft).
It is a historically important route for travellers journeying from Ladakh to Lhasa in Tibet.
This pass is at the border between India and China, on the Tibetan Plateau (Changthang plateau), where it is only possible to come from May to September because of the snow.

The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary (or the Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary) varies from 14000 to 19000 feet, and the topography is formed of deep gorges and vast plateaus. 
There are around 11 lakes and 10 marshes, and the majestic River Indus dances through the sanctuary, dividing it into two parts.
This land of silence belongs to wild yaks, changthangi (pashmina goat), Kiang (Tibetan Wild Ass) and marmots among many other species.

Changthang means Northern Plateau in Tibetan and Ladakh means “land of high passes”.